Wearing a black DKNY shirt and dark trousers, jazz impresario Joshua Redman told a crowd of students gathered in Faulkner Recital Hall that music is a "healing force" that has the power to bring together people of different ideologies.
Redman used the opportunity to speak about his life and experiences that drew him to music at a session of Music 4: The History of Jazz.
After Redman stepped into the room and a hush drew over the crowd, he gave a humble and qualified assessment of his meteoric rise in the jazz world and his ability to discuss jazz music.
"I don't really have a philosophy of music," said the 27-year old. "I'm also studying in my own way."
He spoke about his being born and raised in Berkeley, Calif., a city recognized for its progressiveness and diversity. He said the city encompassed a broad spectrum of ethnic groups, art, music and dance forms and poetry.
The city, especially during the 1970s, encouraged him and others to interact with people who were different, he said.
Redman was exposed to different types of music such as jazz, classical, hip-hop, bebop, African, Indian and Indonesian growing up.
In fact, he said, when he first studied at the Center for World Music, the first instruments he picked up were the Indian drums and Indonesian xylophone -- both non-Western instruments.
He painted a portrait of his life growing up with his mother, on and off welfare. His father, a well-known jazz musician named Dewey Redman, and his mother were never married.
Redman said while his father was into jazz, he visited his son only about once a year and had "never been a huge influence."
In the fifth grade, he picked up the tenor saxophone after experimenting with the piano and clarinet.
At Berkeley High School, he played with the nationally-renowned jazz band and with a variety of different groups like funk bands.
"I never thought that I wanted to be a professional musician," Redman said, because it is difficult to remain true to one's principles and still make a living. He said one is not necessarily rewarded on the value of his music in the industry.
He graduated valedictorian of Berkeley High and attended Harvard University, where he majored in social studies, a demanding interdisciplinary major.
Redman said while he thought he was going to become a doctor and took science classes, he switched gears and planned to become a lawyer and do advocacy work.
During his time at Harvard, he said he did not concentrate on practicing jazz in the traditional sense, but was hanging out with musicians in the Boston area and listening, which he called a form of "practicing."
He applied and was accepted to the Yale University Law School and deferred matriculation for a year to relax and get out of school. When some musicians said they were looking for a housemate in New York City, he took up their offer.
Redman said his friends' serious practicing influenced him. "Because I was living with committed musicians ... a lot of that seriousness rubbed off on me," he said.
He entered a prestigious music competition on a whim and won, and afterwards some of the greatest musicians were calling to see if he would play with them. Redman added he is often approached by tired, disheveled lawyers who tell him he made an excellent choice not to attend law school.
He spoke about the creative power in individuals.
"If you trust your own instincts, get in touch with your feelings ... and that becomes your focus, you are going to create something that is original," he said.
